Someone asked me about why a Z8 would be needed, and what would happen to the Z7 if a Z8 appeared. My assumption is that something like this is Nikon’s intention by 2023:
- Z4: 24mp entry consumer
- Z5 II: 24mp consumer
- Z6 III: 24mp prosumer
- Z7 III: 45mp prosumer
- Z8: 80mp pro
- Z9: 45mp pro
The pro bodies differ from the prosumer bodies by:
- Mode button, not dial
- Banks, not U1-U3
- 10-pin round connector instead of rectangular
- Small things like PC Sync sockets
- Better EVF
- Latest sensors and processors launched here first
- And of course, additional performance and features
New technologies introduced in the Z8/Z9 cameras would work their way down into the prosumer cameras. The consumer cameras would recycle older technologies.
I’d also assume that we’d be back to well-differentiated price points, with previous generation cameras getting discounted into the gaps before they stop becoming available. A price point scale for the above models would be something like 999, 1300, 2000, 3000, 4500, 6500 (all US dollars).
I suppose it is possible for the Z6 and Z7 to merge, say into a 35mp prosumer body, but that doesn’t seem like Nikon’s long-established modus operandi to me.
